Feeling stressed may seem pretty normal. After all, who isn’t stressed these days? However, it can be harmful if left untreated. You need a proactive way of combating stress.

Use a stress journal

A stress journal is a simple way for you to manage your feelings of stress in a healthy, proactive way. Think of it as a one-person therapy session you can have at any time. Using a stress journal is simple. All you have to do is write down a record of your feelings of stress. Eventually, you’ll identify patterns in your stress. This way, you can find ways to reduce stressful behaviours. You may not have ever kept a diary, but keeping a journal could be the key to getting your stress under control. It’s not about the quality of your writing; it’s about putting your feelings on paper.

Articulate feelings

Do you ever have trouble explaining to people why you’re stressed? Verbal communication may not work best for you, but journaling gives you an outlet for complicated feelings. If you have trouble verbalising and vocalising how you feel, writing those feelings down can help you to better identify how you feel. Imagine finally being able to pinpoint your feelings of stress. It will do wonders to boost your mood.

Process emotions

Do you ever feel like you have trouble dealing with your feelings? Everyone has different ways of dealing with stress. Once you’ve found a stress relief method that works for you, why not try to expand your arsenal? Having a variety of ways to handle your stress ensures you’ll always stay in touch with your emotions — and that your methods remain effective.

If you’re stressed out and upset, finding a way to process difficult feelings can be hard. A stress journal will give you time to reflect on your feelings. Having a bad client call or a fight with your spouse may feel awful, but it isn’t the end of the world. Taking time to write down your feelings and being able to reflect on them is crucial for managing stress. It may also help you to put your problems into perspective.

Identify stressors

When you’re stressed out, it can be easy to attribute certain frustrations and feelings to the wrong cause. Keeping a journal may help you make a breakthrough to discover exactly why you’re feeling so stressed out.

You may think that meetings with your boss stress you out. But after looking through a few weeks of entries, you find that talking to a certain coworker before meetings make you more stressed than simply talking to our boss. Dealing with stress is important. However, finding the cause for that stress is just as crucial. Once you sort through your journal, you may find that your stress is being caused by something you’d never even thought of.